Finally On Break

The time between my last post and now is a little fuzzy.  Finals are a total blur, though they definitely went much more smoothly than any of my 8 conference weeks at SLC.  The week after finals, my brain was pretty much total mush and I went out every night.  This included a date with a nice young man, whom I had met the weekend before.  He's very sweet and I think I will see him again, though I'm not sure how far it will go.

Now I find myself back at my mom's house in Connecticut.  There are several inches of snow on the ground and some sort of sleety-slushy crap is coming down now.  My holiday shopping is pretty under control, though I'm planning a trip to the mall tomorrow to tie up the rest of my loose ends.  As much as I hate leaving the city, being back in Connecticut for a bit without any work hanging over my head will be nice.  Things are so calm and quiet here, though I can realistically only handle it for a week at the most before the stir-crazy sets in.

Happy Chanukah!

Our menorah tonight.

Jessie and my Christmas tree.

College Walk decorated for the holidays.

Excellent Time Management Skills

I think going to Barnes & Noble and Magnolia instead of getting ready for finals was definitely the best use of my time.

I went to get Pete a birthday present and came back with these.  Technically the top one is a Christmas gift for Mary, but I might have to flip through it first. . . 

Thankful

So, I've been a bit lax about updating over here.  The week leading up to break was crazy, but I did get to spend a lovely 24 hours in the city with Stacey, including introducing her to Magnolia.  Once Thanksgiving break hit and I was back in Connecticut, I was in full veg-mode.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings I've had in a long time, even though I never quite achieved my goal of "Get a lot of schoolwork done", but I think that's OK.  I am happy to back in the city, but getting to see the Natchaug crew, as well as my ladies from Wilson's was awesome.

Making one of my annual contributions to Thanksgiving.

The "Secret Ingredient" to my cranberry sauce.

Our Thanksgiving spread, minus my Caesar Salad and the multitude of desserts.

I came back to New York last night and was back at my field placement first thing this morning.  I wasn't expecting an especially easy day, since the holidays (and the immediate aftermath) can be hard for the kind of kids I work with.  I wasn't expecting anything like today turned out to be.  It started out with little things like my coffee pot freaking out, mopping up a miniature lake of coffee off my white tile floor and then waiting 15 minutes for the stupid 2 train (which also decided to stop running this afternoon).  This all paled in comparison to the session with one of my favorite students that ended with my first call to ACS, among other things.  It was one of those days that simultaneously makes me wonder why I want to do this kind of work and reminds me why I need to.  Sometimes watching what these kids have to live through on a daily basis and how little is being done to support them is worse than heartbreaking.  And often there is little or nothing I can do to "fix" it.  Though, sometimes, like today, just being able to listen and help them get what they need has to be enough.